Obit Joe Schmidt

Detroit Lions head coach Joe Schmidt acknowledges the crowd in 2015 after receiving a Pro Football Hall of Fame ring during a ceremony at halftime of a game between the Lions and the Chicago Bears in Detroit.

DETROIT — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

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